Continuous motion packaging machines for placing articles into cartons are well known, and include numerous features, for example, components to sort and accumulate articles, such as beverage containers, and to place the articles into various types of cartons. Typical such machines include a main conveyor having spaced lugs or flights to move an article group or a carton, or both, from an intake end to a discharge end, along a path of travel. Other machines place a preformed group of articles onto a carton blank, which is then folded around the group. The articulating or rotating flights described herein are shown incorporated into a packaging machine adapted to wrap an article group with a paperboard carton blank, to form a fully wrapped, fully enclosed and sealed carton containing the article group. Some of these wrap-type cartons are referred to as “sleeve” cartons, some are wrapped around the bottle group from above the group, while still others place the bottle group onto a carton blank, and then wrap the blank over and around the group. If the carton is fully enclosed, the machine includes a rotating tucker or a static tucker plate or bar, to move the previously glued end flaps to the carton. Other wrap-type cartons either fully enclosed or partially enclosed can be formed with these machines.
A principal feature of known packaging machines is that they are designed to run continuously when packaging articles. All of the main functions of the machine perform their respective functions as concurrently as possible, so that the output of the machine is at an optimum capacity. These include inputting the articles, such as bottles, cans, juice or milk boxes, etc., forming the desired article group, feeding a carton blank or partially formed carton sleeve onto a conveyor, and placing the article group within the sleeve or upon the flat blank then wrapping the blank up and around the group, or wrapping the blank around the bottom group from above. In machines that wrap a flat blank around a formed article group that rests upon the carton blank, the process includes folding the main panels of the blank around the group, which are sealed together, typically with glue, and then sealing the minor end flaps, which, up to this point, are open. These minor flaps typically also are glued, entirely sealing the carton. Finally the filled and fully sealed carton is discharged at the downstream end of the packaging machine. In some known machines that close the carton end flaps to form a fully enclosed carton, a mechanism exists to rotate the partially enclosed carton sleeve so that the end flaps encounter a rotary tucker wheel or a static tucker bar or plate. Sometimes this is accomplished by a separate mechanism that engages the carton from above, or the carton can be transferred to a separate conveyor that is adapted to rotate the carton to engage the tucker.
Although the present invention can be adapted to be utilized with various types of cartons, including basket cartons, where rotation of the carton along the main conveyor is necessary, for the purposes of illustration the rotating flight assembly of the present invention is used in a continuous motion packaging machine that places articles into a wrap-type carton blank, and then wraps the blank up and around the article group. The partially formed cartons or unformed (flat) carton blanks are sequentially fed by a carton feeder, also well known, onto each of the sequential, spaced flight assemblies that are pulled along a downstream path by a flight conveyor. While some wrap-type cartons are partially faulted by pre-gluing two side panels and forming a sleeve prior to placement of the sleeve onto the conveyor by a carton feeder, the present machine depicts inputting flat paperboard carton blanks by a carton feeder (not shown) onto each flight assembly. Whether the machine accepts partially formed sleeves or flat carton blanks onto the main conveyor, additional components are included at the proper location along the flight conveyor to place glue onto selected locations of the carton end flaps, and then to move the carton end flaps into a closed position. These gluing and closure components also are well known. As referenced above, these closure components, for example, can be rotating wheels or tuckers, or static bars and plates, sometimes referred to as “plows,” that fold the carton panels and/or flaps by engaging them and pushing them into a closed position as they are moved downstream by the main conveyor. Sometimes compression belts also are used to press on the flaps and panels to ensure proper glue contact or to convey the articles that leave the main conveyor.
In known machines where it is necessary to turn or rotate the carton as it is being formed around the article group or after it contains the article group in order to properly position the flaps for closure, a separate conveyor/flight mechanism or other means is used to rotate the partially formed carton. This rotation assists in moving the remaining, unfolded flaps into a closed position by the separate flight mechanism and closure elements. Other rotating mechanisms are known in packaging machines. Such separate turning devices can have separate conveyors that must be timed specifically with the main conveyor. Otherwise jamming could result in a machine shutdown, with loss of efficiency and production.